


Duality

by Ha_YouWish



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Temporary Character Death, it's only a matter of time before my sorikai mind starts to make this about them, or something like that, you all know how kh1 goes Sora's fine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 21:20:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17128943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ha_YouWish/pseuds/Ha_YouWish
Summary: Riku got closer and closer to darkness, staying confident and cocky all the way. So much so that he doesn't realize he's falling until he hits the ground. Now he must deal with the consequences and take every chance he's given.Maybe he'll meet a few people along the way.[A reimagining for Riku's character arc]





	Duality

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by [this](https://twitter.com/_chababe/status/967987878046216192?s=09) and decided to run with it so here

In Hollow Bastion, Riku can't control himself anymore. He doesn't know how it happened - _yes you do, liar_ \- but as Sora keeps going through the castle, there are times when his body moves, making decisions he's unsure about without him meaning to. He thinks it's instinct - _but you don't know it, do you?_

So when he can't move his body at all and he hears himself laugh, he's scared.

“Don't resist and everything will go much more smoothly for you,” the being says, laughing at his struggle.

Suddenly, like he's being pulled by the ends of his heart, he's forced to feel calm and compliant. But he doesn't want to be calm, why is this happening - _you know why_ \- and what will happen to him next?

Riku soon meets Sora again, taunts him, reveals the truth about the Princess of Heart- about Kairi. But it's not him - _it's still your fault_ \- and Ansem refuses to listen to his weak resistance.

His body fights Sora, waves of darkness meeting light. Their blades clashing together, him pushing Sora further and further on the defensive.

For once in his life, Riku wishes that this sword fight ended with him losing.

He wants a lot of things, to resist, to stop fighting, to go back to being friends with Sora and Kairi - _if they'd ever forgive you_. But as he watches Sora take a wrong step, as he sees the other boy's keyblade knocked out of his hands, as he feels himself smile and surge forward with his own-

Riku wants to scream.

The keyblade drives through Sora's chest.

Riku shouts and cries and resists as much as he can, but the most he can do is turn his face from one of victory to one full of complete horror.

The look on the other boy's face is not one of betrayal or anger, but one of pure shock. Kairi's pure, bright heart comes out of his chest, reuniting with her body. The blade breaks, splitting up into six hearts and returning to the rest of the Princesses.

There's a distant yell, maybe it's calling his name, maybe it's calling Sora's

But Riku can barely hear it, because the other boy's bright eyes meet his for a long second, searching for something- _anything_ , before they turn dull and he slumps forward.

This is his fault.

As his friend falls forward, he has to force his body to move to catch him.

 _This is his fault_.

Sora disappears into light just before he reaches Riku's arms.

There's a scream that sounds like it's coming from himself. Darkness gathers at the edge of his vision and Riku lets himself be surrounded by it. He can't see or move anymore, it wraps around his body as he sobs and Ansem regains his control.

He lets himself start fall, fading into the dark. _You deserve it,_ the voice is back.

“Riku… please,” Kairi's pleading voice cuts through the dark.

Kairi. He can't let Ansem hurt her too, not when she's all he has left. _And whose fault is that?_

He reaches out blindly, pulling on any strength he has left, and turning it against Ansem. He can't see her, but he can feel her light as he holds him back.

“Run! Get out of here!” He yells.

Riku holds him back until he can no longer feel her light. He's tired, too tired to do anything when Ansem tosses his heart into the deepest Darkness. He’s too tired to acknowledge whatever falls with him, and much too tired to begin to comprehend why it decides to protect and stay with his heart.

When he finally lands somewhere in the darkness, he hears a voice, telling him to search for the hearts of his friends.

He tries not to be sick when he can't feel them.

So he falls deeper.

Riku can hear the muted waves before he's able to see them. And for the first time since opening the door on the island, he feels homesick.

 

* * *

****

Soon after leaving the island world that fell into darkness, Aqua and Mickey get split up by a swarm of heartless and she finds herself lost amid the darkness once again, trying to reach out and grasp at any light.

But this time, she actually _can_. She follows its shine quickly, until her fast steps turn from the echoes of a hard surface to the crunch of sand.

Despite just being split up with Mickey, Aqua's still wary of seeing other people,  she's still not sure if they're just illusions.

But right now, she knows the boy in sitting tiredly front of her is not made of the darkness of her mind. Everything about him, from the way he gazes sullenly at the water to the way he hesitates to touch the dark waves, is real.

But that scares her, because she knows this boy. Despite how much older he looks, she can recognize his eyes, unique and reflective. Like a mirror of truth.

“Hey, you're…” She pauses, recalling his name, “Riku, right? My name is Aqua.” It hurts her to see that she's missed so many years. How long has she been wandering in mindless darkness? How long has _he?_

Riku looks up, a look of complete confusion is quickly replaced by some sort of fear. Not of her, but of himself.

“Don't come near me!” he shouts, backing away from her in the sand, “I don't-”

He cuts himself off when a weapon with the blade of a bat wing appears in his hand. His eyes widen and he drops it quickly, as if he'd been burned.

 _This boy is broken_ , Aqua thinks carefully taking a few steps closer, _What happened to him?_

“Hey,” she says softly, “Are you alright?”

Riku's looks at her with an emotion that she can't describe, before quickly turning away.

“How did you get here?” She continues on, “Did something happen in the Realm of Light?”

The boy only curls into himself more at her questions, making her pause. _He must be overwhelmed,_ she thinks, _the darkness of this place takes some getting used to._

Aqua sits down quietly beside him, the water just barely reaching her feet. They both spend a moment in silence, listening the the muffled waves.

“You should probably get away from me while you have the chance,” he says at last, his voice small, “I'm a monster.”

Aqua frowns, “What makes you think that?” Surely he's exaggerating. A monster would never tell her to leave for her own safety.

“I was so jealous that I let in the darkness. I used it and fell deeper and deeper into it until I let _him_ in. I couldn't control myself, I lost my body and I-” he cuts himself off again, tears run down his face, but he takes no notice of them.

It's just now that she notices the light shimmering on his skin and the slight transparency of his body, not enough to be an illusion, but not exactly physical either. _With his heart exposed, why doesn't the darkness go after him?_ she wonders.

“There's something protecting you,” she concludes, “Otherwise, you would have fallen completely to the darkness. Your light and the light of someone else keeps you here. You're not one of the dark, so I can't think of you as a monster.”

He doesn't look at her, but he doesn't seem too convinced, the look on his face is still pained. _I need to distract him from that pain_.

Aqua stands up, every grain of sand on her clothes falls to the ground with no indent where she was sitting. She holds her hand out to the boy.

“Let's go, we can't stay still here for very long.”

Riku takes her hand and allows himself to be pulled up. But then he stumbles forward as his skin seems to lose its transparency, but none of its glow. Aqua steadies him carefully.

“My body- someone defeated him…” He says, grasping at his side. She mumbles a cure spell to heal him, watching as he loses some of his tension.

“Can you walk?” she asks. He nods, and they begin moving, all of Aqua's senses on edge for the slightest appearance of creatures.

Aqua feels much less bothered by the darkness now that there is someone else with her, but she worries. Riku is a _child_ and he's in the Realm of Darkness, a place no one should be forced to be. _Is this really the only fate for keyblade wielders now? Is anyone who touches the blade destined to be broken and sent here?_ It's unfair, but that’s the way it is. She's just going to need to guide anyone who falls.

Out of the corner of her eye, something moves. Master’s Defender appears in her hand instantly, and she swing around. Quickly getting rid of it, she blasts blizzard at the firey one to knock it away then turns back to check on Riku.

Riku stands completely frozen with his blade in front of him on the ground and darkness coming off him in waves. A large dark creature rushes toward him, too far for Aqua to reach.

“Riku, look out!”

**Author's Note:**

> so yeah guess who's back on her bullshit (me) and actually did something (also me)
> 
> Constructive criticism is encouraged!


End file.
